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Re: Master of the World

From: Craig Weatherhill <craig~at~agantavas.org>
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 12:46:13 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

No crater, but otherwise, much as Verne described it. Someone must
have detailed the place to him, and the crater was his own addition.

Craig







On 8 Me 2012, at 01:14, aevans2 tds.net wrote:

> Hi David,
>
> Some very interesting ideas...
>
> I have not studied this question of Verne's sources for Maître du
> monde (Master of the World), but it might also be possible--as Jean-
> Michel has pointed out, among others--that Verne patterned Great
> Eyry on Pilot Mountain which is near Mount Airy (famous today as the
> birthplace of Andy Griffith and the model for TV's town of
> Mayberry). In French "une aire" is an eyrie. Mount Airy = Mount
> Eyrie = Great Eyry?
>
> Of course Mt. Airy is a bit over 100 miles away from Morganton--it's
> located up near the NC/Virginia border. Perhaps Verne made a
> mistake; or perhaps he was simply using "artistic license"? Hard to
> know for sure....
>
> As for what initially attracted his attention to western North
> Carolina, it might well have been the War Between the States, as you
> suggest. It may have also been the geography-geology of the
> Appalachian Mountains. It seems significant that at the beginning
> of the novel Great Eyry is described as the inaccessible crater of
> an extinct volcano (and we all know how much Verne loves volcanoes!).
>
> Just some random thoughts....
>
> I cannot attend the NAJVS meeting this year (I'll be in France
> during that time). But it should be a very interesting one for
> anyone interested in this Verne novel!
>
> Best,
> Art
>
>
> On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 6:46 PM, David McCallister <drmmystery1881~at~gmail.com
> > wrote:
> Y'all have probably thought of it already, but my first guess would
> be that Verne may have read about the area in press coverage of the
> War Between the States. He's got a lot of material that's Southern
> and WBTS related - for characters and place settings. North Against
> South,Blockade Runners, Earth to the Moon, Mysterious Island, etc.
> So it's reasonable to think that he might have read of the
> topography of North Carolina in French reports of the time. I think
> the famous Stoneman Raid, late in the War, went right through the
> mountainous area of west NC. I bet if we looked into French
> newspapers of the period, we might find out what Verne might have
> read.
>
> Also, on another angle, it is pretty well agreed that Count
> Ferdinand von Zeppelin got seminal ideas for his later airship from
> an ascent during the WBTS. Perhaps Verne learned of the Count's
> ideas (although the timimg may be way off since the Count didn't get
> around to the Zeppelin until after 1880's ) and extended the WBTS
> balloon technology as he was wont to do, and especially composed the
> fore/aft propellor debate at the Weldon Institute because of this.
> The Count was very famous at the time of the Franco-Prussian War for
> having a daring ride completely around the French army as a cavalry
> officer (I think in the service of the King of Wurtemburg- not the
> Prussians).
> Anyway, even without the Count, balloon technology was cutting-edge
> in the WBTS and would have been reported back to France. The
> Goahead, if not the Albatross, just seems as natural an extension as
> the Baltimore Gun Club's big cannon. Moving HQ from X Island to
> North Carolina takes a little more explanation.
> While the Gun Club's choice of Tampa is part of the plot (and
> presages NASA's ), from Philadelphia to North Carolina seems a short
> distance. I don't know, but perhaps it was close to the highest
> point, Mt. Mitchell, which Verne could have gotten from an almanac
> if he was just looking for the nearest, high mountains.
>
> Perhaps Verne picked North Carolina just in a mystical premonition
> of Kitty Hawk's contribution to the history of aviation?
> David McCallister
>
>>
>>
>
Received on Tue 08 May 2012 - 15:42:50 IDT

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